I've been away from the blog for awhile - I saw some great music in that time (especially Warren Haynes' Christmas Jam WOW) but I decided to take a break from writing and concentrate on more important matters of groovin' :o) Anyway, I'm ready to get back into the swing of things, but I’ve been waiting to post this review because I really wanted to see a setlist first. Finally, the moment none of you have been waiting for ;o)
SETLIST
Set 1 (Keller & The Keels)
01 Star Trek Theme->
02 Portapotty
03 2003 Minus 25
04 Loser (Beck)>Loser (Jerry)>Loser (Beck)
05 On the Way Home Again
06 Local Outdoor Organic
07 Thirsty in the Rain
08 Mountains of the Moon
09 Breathe->
10 Another Brick In The Wall->
11 Breathe
12 Passapatanzy
13 Changed the Locks
[Happy Birthday Tease]
14 Wild Horses
15 Crater in the Backyard
16 Mary Jane’s Last Breakdown
17 Teen Angst (What The World Needs Now)
18 Connie Chung
Set 2 (Keller Only)
Skitso->
Moving Sidewalk
Ninja
Alligator Alley
Groundscore
You Are What You Eat
Wind Cries Mary
Zilla
India
Life Is
Apparition->
Freshies
Terrapin Station (On Piano)
Loup (w/ Lou On Trumpet)/Keller Thank You’s->
Celebrate Your Youth
Encore (w/ The Keels)
Nobody Bother Me (Theme From A Jhoon Rhee Taekwondo Commercial)
Freeker->
Play This
This was a very special occasion because, for one, it was my first show of 2007. Secondly, Baltimore is about 2.5 hours away from Richmond, so we had some quality road trip time. Thirdly, well, it was Keller – and we love him. Plus, my girl Amanda & I hadn’t been to a concert together since the last time we saw Keller in Fall ’05!!! We also found a delicious deuce-deuce of Red Stripe at a 7Eleven along the way, which was an added bonus :O)
THE SHOW
We walked into the venue to the sound of Keller & The Keels jammin’ out a bluegrass cover of “Another Brick In The Wall.” Now that I’ve finally seen the setlist, it looks like we missed a little over half of the first set. Normally I would be very sad about this; but since we almost didn’t get to go at all, I will not complain (about that at least). Some people don’t really care for Keller’s project with the Keels, but I think that it’s a ton of fun. “Mary Jane’s Last Breakdown” is a great Tom Petty cover medley. I will say, though, that I prefer the Keller Williams & String Cheese Incident version of “Breathe.”
Keller’s solo set is what I was really pumped up about. I just can’t believe the crazy jams that he comes up with as just one man. He has so many different guitars, instruments, and gadgets up on stage; and he uses them all. The way he records each little line & loops them over top of each other- it’s almost impossible to describe – you just have to witness it. When he sat down at the piano to cover “Terrapin Station”, the guy behind me leaned in and asked, “Is there anything he can’t do?”
We got a great setlist and super-cool visuals & video screenage – “Alligator Alley”, “You Are What You Eat”, “Zilla”, “Freshies”, and “Celebrate Your Youth” stand out as highlights. After “Celebrate Your Youth”, Keller left the stage & a message appeared on the screen that it was now officially Keller’s Birthday. He & the Keels reemerged for an encore to the sound of the crowd drunkenly singing Happy Birthday.
Speaking of THE CROWD
Now here comes my little gripe session. What is with the super lame-o’s who feel the need to be up front & subject me to their social hour? I've sounded off about this before, and I have now noticed that this is way more of a problem at jam-band shows. There’s this new wave of frat guys who drag their prissy-ass girlfriends to the shows, who proceed to get drunk & scream in my ear. Luckily, they fall off their stilettos easily & don’t really care for crazy hippie bitches dancing into them. During the set break, we found a nice group of people to stand with who were actually there for the music (imagine that!)
DRIVE & PARKING
The drive went along pretty smoothly until we got into the city. We were heading towards the venue and our Mapquest directions said we needed to stay straight onto Pratt Street. Well suddenly, we see Pratt Street, and it’s to our left…not straight at all. I ask if I can take a left hurriedly, and as Amanda says, “No,” I saw a gap in traffic & proceeded anyway. The horns screamed, and Amanda & I burst into laughter. Amanda kept looking at everyone and saying, “We’re from Virginia!” I hate drivers like me. I’m such a hypocrite. I have since looked at a road map, and I can’t for the life of me figure out how I should have correctly maneuvered that intersection. Shrug.
For those of you who may care, there are plenty of parking garages near the Ramshead. It cost us $15, though.
BEVERAGES
Reasonably priced. Sierra Nevada on tap was $5. I expected $7, so the bartender got a better tip. Their house beer was $4 a cup, and they have a full bar. Some dude kept trying to buy us tequila shots, but I didn’t want to end up in Delaware on the drive home…so I abstained.
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